No Time to Die

Unless you are a hermit, you could not have missed the fact that the new James Bond film, No Time to Die was released in the UK yesterday. The release has been delayed for 15 months due to the global pandemic.

What better time to review these superb invitations produced for Skyfall, which as you will read below, was also a movie put on hold, although that was due to the financial recession...

SKYFALL 2012

The James Bond franchise is a global phenomenon and one which over the years has made those involved in the production and marketing a lot of money. However many people may not remember that due to the recession, Bond film number 23 (as Skyfall was then known) was put on hold in 2010 due to lack of cash. Having originally meant to be released in 2011, it was eventually released in October 2012.

Film Premieres of this scale demand lavish and expensive invitations and collateral. In quality terms they must live up to and possibly exceed, the expectations of the forthcoming film.

Below is a small 4pp wallet (with pocket) which is 180mmx107mm, printed offset litho in CMYK plus a gold special colour on Omnia 280gsm with the ticket printed CMYK and hot foil blocked in metallic gold foil on Omnia 280gsm duplexed to 560gsm.  

Click on images to enlarge

The ticket is also hot foil blocked on the reverse.

The launch of this type of film requires several events and these represent tickets for the screenings at The Royal Albert Hall, the Odeon Leicester Square and the after show party at the Tate. As you will notice from the reverse of the wallet (below) the litho printed gold actually looks gold! ..this is a feature of Omnia and where is scores over ordinary uncoated papers.

Below is the ticket for the Odeon Leicester Square which is 99x210mm, Landscape.

The ticket is printed in CMYK plus gloss black foil, which you can hopefully see in the picture below.

This ticket which is also printed on Omnia 280gsm is mounted on our Sumo 2000microns which makes the invitation 2.5mm thick!

Printing is by Identity Print, based in Paddock Wood, Kent and they made a superb job of it - colour reproduction and solids are superb - the hot foil blocking is perfectly executed (Identity are one of the few printers to have hot foil blocking facilities 'in-house')

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/
http://www.007.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 01.10.2021

INQUE Bookmarks

Last summer, you may remember that a Kickstarter campaign for a new magazine INQUE, which I wrote about here. INQUE is a large-format annual literary magazine from Dan Crowe and Matt Willey. Dedicated to commissioning and publishing diverse global writing next to extraordinary art, design and photography, with an editorial remit to be creatively groundbreaking. The crowdfunding campaign was hugely successfully and the first issue is due out this October.

In the meantime, they have produced various goodies, T shirts, Tote bags etc and these amazing bookmarks (or should it be bookmarques!)

The size is 77mm x 210mm and they are hot foil blocked on our Sumo, Black 1mm board, so they are very substantial and look great. The invitation is printed on SUMO, which is our a heavyweight, thick board manufactured by FAVINI in Italy. It is available in black and white and the consists of 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm up to a whopping 3mm thick ...seriously chunky! The has also now been extended to include a small range of colours - five new shades all available in 1mm thick.

Click on images to enlarge

Design is by Matt Willey. They have been beautifully hot foil blocked in gloss black foil by Identity Print.

I'm not sure what you have to do to get one of these lovely bookmarks, but in the meantime you could subscribe to issue one HERE - it's not too late!

https://inquemag.com/

https://mattwilley.co.uk/

http://www.identityprint.co.uk/

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inque/inque-magazine

Posted by Justin Hobson 18.06.2021

North of Scotland Distilling Co. Folders

Established in 1958 by George Christie, the distillery he built at the foot of Wallace's Monument, was unusual in that it distilled both Malt and Grain Scotch Whisky. Today, North of Scotland Distilling Company is run by his son, Ricky Christie selling a variety of popular brands including Wolf of Badenoch.

This is their beautifully designed and produced presentation folder, although it is hard to do it justice with my limited photographic skills!

The size of the folder is 305 x 217mm, portrait and has a 53mm glued pocket on the inside back cover but the production on the front and back covers is extraordinary...

The logo is hot foil blocked in black gloss foil, while the compass device is hot foil blocked in black matt foil. The coloured crest is printed first with a white ink on the black (printed on a UV equipped waterless litho press) plus CMYK Offset litho on top of the white. The real thing is far better than my images show here.

It is printed on our Blackgold 290gsm which is a range of intense black from the Cordenons range.

The reverse is printed in white - 3 hits, giving an excellent density of white.

The folders really are stunning and it was very kind of Philip Wilson at Love & Humphries to send me a file copy with an explanatory note...

Design is by Alan at Cameron Design Consultants and the folders have been superbly printed and finished by Love & Humphries, who are based in Port Glasgow, Scotland.

http://www.nosdistilling.com/

https://www.camerondesign.co.uk/

https://www.loveandprint.co.uk/

Posted by Justin Hobson 14.06.2021

Hotel Astoria - St Petersburg

An illustrious St. Petersburg landmark, the grand Hotel Astoria sits

directly across from St Isaac’s Cathedral, a short walk from leading attractions such as Nevsky Prospect, Palace Square and the Mariinsky Theatre. Since opening in 1912, this elegant Art Nouveau hotel has hosted eminent guests, from dancer Isadora Duncan to poet Sergei Yesenin.

This the brochure for the hotel, which follows the new brand identity for Rocco Forte Hotels, created by Pentagram.

Size of the brochure is 266 x 204mm, portrait and is saddle stitched. The cover is an unusual format as there is an 8pp cover with 140mm wide flaps and there is an outer jacket, only 210mm high, also with 140mm flaps. It is the first time I've seen this combination and the effect is superb...

The materials used for the covers is our Dali range, which is a 'felt-marked' paper with a linear effect and a natural, tactile feel. If you click on the image below, you will be able to see the texture in the paper.

The cover is on Dali Nero 200gsm and is hot foil blocked in matt white and copper foil. The jacket is printed on Dali, Candido, 160gsm and is litho printed in CMYK on one side only.

Above is a birdseye view. Below shows inside front spread...

Click on images to enlarge

The 16pp text is printed offset litho on our Marazion Ultra 135gsm, chosen because of it's dead matt flatness which would reproduce the interior images well without a glossiness which would detract from the classic look and feel of the hotel.

Click on images to enlarge

The brochure has a beautiful, quality feel and flows in the hand superbly. The combination of photography, materials and quality print makes this a wonderful piece of print.

Design is by Pentagram. The excellent print, repro and finishing is by Gavin Martin Colournet, based in East London. 

https://www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/hotel-astoria/

https://www.pentagram.com/ 

https://www.gavinmartincolournet.co.uk/ 

Posted by Justin Hobson 08.06.2021

New cards on a new paper!

I'm very happy to introduce this new range of age cards by the lovely Made by Shannon, which also happen to be printed on a brand new paper range!

Made by Shannon is a greeting card publisher run by Shannon and based in Surrey. This new selection of age cards are just simply, but beautifully, hot foil blocked on their own 1980's vintage foiling machines. They are C6 (148x105mm) size.

The cards are printed on our new Inclusion, Coffee 250gsm, which as you can see is a visually interesting paper...

Inclusion, Coffee is a new range which is made using 100% Recycled, post consumer waste, with the addition of 5% residues from coffee processing, the resulting effect is really unusual.

Thank you to Shannon for sending this new card and if you would like to see their range of cards and gifts, you can see them HERE.

Inclusion Coffee is available in 100, 120 and 250gsm and if you would like some samples, just drop me an email: justin@fennerpaper.co.uk

Posted by Justin Hobson 28.05.2021

Amaffi

The Amaffi Perfume House is a luxury fragrance brand based in Switzerland. With boutiques in New York, London and Moscow, they create only naturally derived fragrances and are at the very exclusive end of exclusive!

Baddeley Brothers were commissioned to produce these luxurious correspondence notecards. They are exceptionally beautifully hot foil blocked using The Tube, Black 260gsm, which have been duplexed with an uncoated white board for the reverse.

If you aren't familiar with The Tube, you can read about it HERE. The Tube is made by Favini in Italy and is engineered to give a gorgeous flawless matt effect and the smoothly tactile surface exudes luxury.

As well as being hot foil blocked, the cards are also 'gilt edged' with gold foil, as you can see from the detail image below...

Detail showing the hot-foil blocking using a combination die, which raises the foil with an embossed finish, which highlights the matt flatness of the board.

To accompany the notecards are matching, handmade DL size envelopes which are foil lined 

My thanks to Baddeley Brothers for sharing these exceptional samples with us.

https://www.amaffi.com/

https://baddeleybrothers.com/

Posted by Justin Hobson 20.04.2021

Dark Objects

This is the private view invitation produced for the Huxley-Parlour Gallery. The occasion is the opening of a retrospective exhibition of works by acclaimed American painter Donald Sultan. Spread over two floors of the London gallery, the exhibition includes 17 works produced from 1977 through to 2019. His series ‘Black Lemons’ was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1988, and preceded an in-depth investigation into the reduction of form. 

Size of the invitation is A5 (210x148mm) portrait and is itself an example of reduction of form, being very simply, but beautifully, hot foil blocked on both sides with gloss black foil using our Sumo, Black 1.5mm board.

The below image should give you some idea as to the 'heft' of the board!

Design is by Dan Cottrell Studio based in London and Amsterdam. Superb hot-foil blocking is by the Geoff Neal Group based in Feltham.

https://huxleyparlour.com/

http://www.dcottrell.com/

https://geoffneal.london/

Posted by Justin Hobson 26.03.2021

LCBA Gift Cards

Here are the lovely new gift cards for the London Centre for Book Arts (LCBA). The LCBA was set up in 2013 and is an open-access educational and resource centre dedicated to book arts based in Fish Island, Hackney.

Images courtesy of Studio Bergini

These new gift cards are hot foil blocked in-house at the LCBA using our Colorset 100% Recycled board which has been triplexed.

Images courtesy of Studio Bergini

Design is by Studio Bergini (Francesco Corsini & Kristian Hjorth Berge) and they look amazing. The below image shows the hot foiling block.

Images courtesy of Studio Bergini

You can buy one of these wonderful new gift cards HERE.

https://londonbookarts.org/

https://studiobergini.eu/

Posted by Justin Hobson 12.02.2021